Micro gas chromatography (μGC) systems provide a portable, cost effective alternative to conventional gas chromatography (GC) systems and have a wide range of applications in industries such as pharmaceutical, environmental monitoring, petroleum distillation, clinical chemistry, and food processing. A typical μGC system is a hybrid integration of several micro-scale modules such as a preconcentrator, a separation column, a gas detector, and a plurality of micro valves and pumps. A μGC system benefits from a separator column having a smooth sidewall profile to improve measurement accuracy and function as an effective alternative to conventional GC systems. Such μGC systems also benefit from separator columns formed with small channel cross sections and long channel lengths.
The separator columns of existing μGC systems are often formed by using an etching process to define the column in the substrate or by using a mold. These manufacturing methods make formation of a smooth sidewall profile difficult due to the inherent limitations of these processes. The packaging density of a separator column formed by these existing methods is also limited due the limitations in the scale of the features that can be produced using etching or mold techniques to form the separator column.
What is needed, therefore, is a micro gas chromatograph with atomic smooth channel sidewalls and a high channel packaging density. A manufacturing method that enables production of a micro gas chromatograph with atomic smooth channel sidewalls and a high channel packaging density is further desirable.